A Bilingual Response to Intervention Program for Articulation

by JoAnn Wiechmann and Deborah Balfanz
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Grades 1-5

ARtIC LAB is a bilingual Response to Intervention (RtI) program for elementary school students (Grades 1–5) who exhibit mild articulation deficits in English or Spanish. This 20-hour, evidence-based program provides sound placement instructions, intensive drill work, and sound generalization activities PRIOR to referral for speech-language pathology services. ARtIC LAB is for:

English-speaking students with only one to two of the following sounds in error: R, S, L, SH, and/or CH.

Spanish-speaking students with only one to two of the following sounds in error: R, S, and/or CH.

Field-tested in a culturally diverse school district in the Houston, Texas area, ARtIC LAB can reduce the size of your caseload as well as meet IDEA 2004 requirements to assess a student's responsiveness to intervention prior to referral to special education. During one semester of intervention, 89 students received 20 hours of intervention over a ten-week period. Of these 89 students, only two cases resulted in referrals to special education and testing for speech therapy.

The ARtIC Lab consists of seven (7) learning stations that maximize the number of sound productions for each student. Each day, the SLP chooses up to five (5) stations based on the number of students in the group (e.g., three [3] students equals three [3] stations). The maximum number of students in a group is five (5). Over a 30-minute session (four days per week), students rotate through each of the stations. The fun activities and games in the ARtIC Lab require limited concentration allowing the student to attend to and practice his/her target sounds while staying motivated. Students learn quickly to monitor and self-correct their sound errors.

There are two ways to purchase ARtIC LAB! You can purchase the complete bilingual kit, or you can purchase the English version. There are no extra forms to buy, ever! Print everything you need from the CD-ROM.